Tuscaloosa Police Make Arrest in 1996 Cold Case Murder
Police in Tuscaloosa have arrested a man believed to be responsible for a murder committed more than 25 years ago.
Captain Jack Kennedy, the commander of the multi-agency Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, said police have been looking for answers since October 1996, when Joseph Todd Jowers was fatally shot while leaving the Classics Lounge on 37th Street in Tuscaloosa.
No arrests were made at the time, and the case went cold but was never abandoned.
"For the past year, investigators with the Violent Crimes Unit worked diligently, re-evaluated evidence, located numerous persons who were determined to be witnesses to the original case, and then presented their findings to a grand jury," Kennedy said, "The grand jury returned an indictment for Murder for Thomas Terry Johnson Jr, now aged 49."
Johnson, who would have been 24 at the time of the killing, has been charged with murder and was arrested Friday and booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail.
He remains there on a $75,000 bond. A mugshot for Johnson was not immediately available Friday.
This is a developing story and will be updated and more updates are made public in the future.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The VCU has issued a correction to their original statement -- Jowers was killed in 1996, not 1997, as originally reported.
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